This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Ophthalmic surgical procedures on the posterior segment of the eye generally require the cutting and/or removal of vitreous humor, a transparent jelly-like material that fills the posterior segment of the eye. The vitreous humor, or vitreous, is composed of numerous microscopic transparent fibers that are often attached to the retina. Therefore, cutting and removal of the vitreous must be done with great care to avoid traction on the retina (i.e., the separation of the retina from the choroid), a retinal tear, or cutting and removal of the retina itself.
The use of microsurgical cutting probes in posterior segment ophthalmic surgery is well known. Such vitrectomy probes are typically inserted through an incision in the sclera near the pars plana. The surgeon may also insert other microsurgical instruments such as a fiber optic illuminator, an infusion cannula, or an aspiration probe during the posterior segment surgery. The surgeon may perform the surgical procedure while viewing the eye under a microscope.
Conventional vitrectomy probes typically include a hollow inner cutting member coaxially disposed within a hollow outer cutting member through which vitreous humor is aspirated. Both the inner and outer cutting members cooperate to cut the vitreous, and the cut vitreous is then aspirated away through the inner cutting member.